The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Youngkin Restricting Cellphones In Classrooms; ACPS Building 38 Million Dollar New School

Episode Date: July 10, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Youngkin Restricting Cellphones In Classrooms ACPS Building 38 Million Dollar New School CVille Firm Buys RVA Assisted Living Complex Potential Of Downtown’s Hardware Store Building Hardware Store Building – $6.5M Asking Price Lake Monticello Food Lion Building For Sale Underachieving Real Estate With Most Upside Eric Trump Expanding Trump Brand In Area Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Wednesday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville show. It's great to connect with you. The show is loaded today. We have a governor looking to ban cell phones in Virginia public schools. I am all for banning cell phones in any schools. Probably my biggest sticking point right now as a parent is screen time with our children, specifically our six-year-old. Whether we want to admit this or not, screen time, YouTube, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, kids watching other kids

play video games on YouTube, not playing the video games themselves, but watching other kids play video games. It is a stain on the next generation. Screen time, a drug I'm watching being consumed firsthand by our six-year-old. I've made this joke, which is a sad state of affairs many times. My son's favorite candy, anything gummy. I could have a bag of Haribo gummy bears, his favorite ones, the clear ones and the red ones. An entire bag of gummy bears. I could be sitting within four feet of my son saying, son, you want some gummy bears?

You can have as many as you want. I got a bag of your favorite gummy bears. Would you like some? You can eat all these gummy bears and you don't even have to eat your vegetables for dinner. And if he's watching YouTube shorts or if he's on any kind of screen time, he is so consumed and self-absorbed

with what he is doing on that screen, a drug that is mesmerizing and hypnotizing him that he will not even hear me offer him the red and clear Haribo gummy bears. That is drugs. Now, I'm going to ask you this question. And Ginny Hu, I was wondering the same. I'm going to mention your comment, your tweet here.

I'm not going to speak for Judah Wittkower. I'm going to ask him this question. Youngkin banning screen times in public schools, is it a good move? I think Judah Wittkower is going to say absolutely. This is a question we have to ask ourselves, however. Is Youngkin overstepping his authority as governor by banning cell phones, smartphones in public school districts across the Commonwealth?

It would seem to me that this is a school board decision, school board authority, school board autonomy, school board call. And when a governor starts going to the local level and telling localities and jurisdictions what to do with their taxpayers and taxpayers' children. That seems like an overstep to me. I want to unpack that topic for you today on the I Love Seville Show. I also want to discuss Albemarle County Public Schools building a new $38 million school. What's intriguing about this capital improvement project, I guess it's not even a capital improvement project,

completely new school construction, is it's being done within walking distance of an elementary school. I think that's the point. $38 million to take Mountain View Elementary, that is beyond overcrowded right now, and to chop it into a smaller school for younger kids and for older kids. We'll unpack this. Now, Albemarle County School Board, they went with this decision because they own the land next to Mountain View. This new school will be in walking distance of the elementary school.

I want to unpack this from every angle. I see the pros. If you have a kid in the elementary school and a new kid like we do, coming into school, and they're in close proximity, drop-off is going to be much easier. But I want to ask this question, was this the right move? A good article by Charlottesville tomorrow about this. On today's program, we'll talk about a Charlottesville firm buying a Richmond assisted living complex.

This will be fresh news to you. On today's program, we'll talk about the potential of the downtown mall hardware store building, a building, ladies and gentlemen, that has an asking price of $6,500,000 that has sat on the market for a fairly long period of time, only 20% leased, a 27,000 square foot building with a cap rate just over 7%, $241 a square foot. We'll talk about this building, the former home to Silverchair. On today's program, I'm going to ask this question. Of all the real estate that is underachieving in the central Virginia area, which has the most upside and potential? I think

immediately the low-hanging fruit is the Dewberry Hotel. No doubt. But there's a number of other pieces of real estate that are underachieving that may have more upside and potential than what the extorting emperor of empty lots, Johnny Dewberry, has on the downtown mall. A guy who grew up in Waynesboro played quarterback for the Georgia Tech rambling wreck. On today's show, we'll highlight the Lake Monticello Food Lion building is for sale. We'll talk Eric Trump expanding the Trump brand in the area, this time into the apples and cider business, Judah. A genius move by Eric Trump. Whether you like it or not, the Trump brand in central Virginia is driving incremental revenue. It's driving tourists.

It's driving brand awareness for Charlottesville and Alamaro County. And whether you like it or not, the Trump wine is highly accoladed and deeply awarded by peers and contemporaries. A lot to unpack on today's program. Judah Wickhauer on a two-shot, the director, the producer, a gentleman of many talents, Yunkin restricting cell phones in classrooms. I'll set the stage here, Judah Wickhauer. Virginia's governor issues an executive order that will limit or ban cell phone use in public schools. A new executive order Tuesday that will limit or ban cell phone use in public schools. A new executive order Tuesday that will limit or ban cell phone use in public schools, the latest in a string of efforts by officials to crack down on what many see as a classroom distraction

and a threat to students' mental health. The order by Youngkin, a Republican, directs the Virginia Department of Education to establish guidelines for a cell phone-free education. The governor's office said in a news release, the new policies are to be implemented in schools by the 1st of January, 2025. Quick turnaround here by Youngkin. With a draft of guidelines expected by the 15th of August

and the final guidelines issued in September. I don't care what side of the aisle you sit on. Democrat, Republican, Socialist, Libertarian. This is an issue that galvanizes parents. The only comments I hear against what Youngkin is doing are from the parents that say, what if we have a school shooting? How will the kids be able to contact me, mommy, and daddy to let us know they're safe or they're in danger? How do we help them if there's an issue at the school?

I want you to push back on that argument. And after you push back on that argument, I want to ask this question. A tweet from Ginny Hu summarizes it very well, what I'm feeling. I do think cell phones should be restricted, Ginny Hu says, as you get her photo on screen. However, I have not read the law. I do wonder if Youngkin is overstepping the role of school boards. I will always support the most power in local hands, even when I disagree with decisions. I wanted the very same. But isn't that what he's doing? It seems to me he's overstepping

the school board and making the call from the governor's mansion. She's saying this is a school board local decision. And when power from the governor's mansion, from the White House, from Congress, from the Senate floor goes down to the local level, then the local level loses its autonomy, its authority, its voting power, and it starts getting diminished on what it's capable of doing with decision-making. I wonder that. First, make the convincing argument against the parents that are saying

cell phones are a must for school shootings and other incidents that happen on school grounds? I mean, I see their point. I can see parents sitting at home or sitting at work worried about, you know, getting news of something horrific happening at a school

and wanting to know immediately that their child is okay worst case scenario i can imagine a child hiding somewhere and their parent hears about what's going on tries to call them and all of a sudden somebody who's you know walk roaming the halls with uh with weapons here's you know Here's a child's phone ringing underneath a desk or in a closet or somewhere and goes after them. That's the worst case scenario I can imagine.

That would be horrible. All I can say is that ultimately, I think having every kid in a school with a cell phone is just not conducive to learning. I'm sorry that you can't get instant updates from your child, but they should be focused on school while they're in school. How do you implement this? There's a question I have. If Yonkin banned cell phones on public school grounds, how will it be enforced? Are teachers now going to be the cell phone police along with the arithmetic, science, history, writing, and English teachers? I mean, I think ultimately that's why it will always end up being a school board issue. Because what are you going to do? I think it's going to require the willpower of school boards across Virginia to actually implement this.

Even if the Virginia Department of Education comes up with a great plan, like every school is all of a sudden going to have a cell phone detector that's going to tell Governor Youngkin if a student enters a school with a cell phone. So ultimately it's up to the schools and the school boards to implement a plan that actually makes this work. First lower third on screen, if you could, please. Bill McChesney's photo on screen as well, please. He cracks a joke in the comment sections on my Facebook page. Those students better comply or the state police and the SWAT

will be roaming the hallways to enforce the cell phone policy. First question I have, how will this be enforced? Yeah, it's going to depend on the schools. Is this going to require today's teacher to do more with less? Is the teacher now the teacher, the authoritarian, the rule enforcer, and the cell phone policeman and cell phone policewoman? No. I don't think, I think that's. Is there going to be a new position created? You've heard of school resource officers. Are there going to be school cell phone officers?

No. How will this be enforced? It's obviously going to fall on the teachers. It's obviously going to fall on the teachers. It's obviously going to fall on the teachers. A kid breaks out his smartphone in AP US history or in remedial math, who's going to tell the kid that they can't have the cell phone on school grounds? It's obviously the teachers. Okay.

Who do you think it is? It depends on how it's implemented. Okay. Who do you think it is? It depends on how it's implemented. Okay. You're going to have to unpack that for the viewers and listeners. If there's a way to, you know, if schools have given up on, I don't want to use the word punishment, but if schools already aren't enforcing rules in the classroom, then this is not going to do a single thing. Kids aren't going to stop bringing their phones to school. They're not going to stop using them in class. But if schools have a means of enforcing the rules that they have, then this should be included in that somehow. If that involves some type of punishment, like staying after school, like whatever, then yes, the teacher will have to be the one to at least, at the very least, mark down that this student was using a phone and shouldn't

and will likely have to tell the student, look, you're not allowed to bring a phone to school. I'm putting you down in the whatever, the demerit book. The demerit book. I don't know. I don't know how schools... The after-school detention book. You're going to be cleaning the

erasers and wiping down the chalkboard while doing wall sits and push-ups after school. Is that what they do these days? No, that's not what they're doing these days. I somehow doubt it. The authoritarians in the schools, whether we want to believe

this or not, be honest with ourselves or not, are the with ourselves or not, are the teachers. They're the line of the defense that is interacting with the students. And Youngkin's order looks great on paper, and I'm all for Youngkin's order. We're in agreement here. Smartphones on school grounds during school hours

are a distraction for students. Keep them from learning properly. We're all in agreement here. Large majority of us. The folks that are not in agreement with us point to school shootings and say, how can we contact our students? I push back on saying that, what did we do 20 years ago

when there were school shootings? We didn't have the smartphones in schools 20 years ago. We still navigated the school shootings as best as we could, all things considering. I don't buy that argument at all. This is what I want to unpack with this decision, and I think this is the conversation for your cocktail party this weekend. First conversation talking point is, how will it be enforced? From my vantage point, utilizing common sense,

I think we're now going to ask teachers to be the enforcers of this Youngkin policy. That's a problem with the schools, not with the policy that Youngkin is asking to be developed. That is real life. The teachers enforce the policy in the school. The teachers enforce the policy in the school. The teachers enforce the rules in the school. I think those are poor answers.

How else will the no cell phone, no smartphone policy be put into effect? You may be right. Okay, go ahead. That may be how it ends up being implemented, but that is a problem with the schools, not with the policy. If you're saying don't implement this policy because teachers – I'm not saying that. I know. That's not what I'm saying.

But you're putting it out there that this is going to fall on the teachers. That's what I'm saying. And while it might, that's not a problem with the – that has nothing to do with the actual policy. That has everything to do with our schools being, going to you know what, and requiring teachers to do jobs that they shouldn't have to do. And this will just be another one. That's my point. And that's a problem with the schools. There's my point. We should discuss that as a problem with schools, not in relation to this policy. Maybe we have a smartphone detector of some kind that students have to walk through. Parents pushed back in the city of Charlottesville on a metal detector.

They said, no, they shouldn't walk through a metal detector. Will they be in favor if they walk through a smartphone detector? Very straightforward question for you. I don't know about that. City of Charlottesville parents said, I don't want my kid walking through a metal detector at Charlottesville Public Schools. Will those same parents that said no to the metal detector allow their students, their kids, their offspring, their scions

to walk through a smartphone detector? But that's just a metal detector. It's branded however the hell you want it. These aren't metal detectors or gun detectors. This is a smartphone detector. But that's just a metal detector. It's branded however the hell you want it. These aren't metal detectors or gun detectors. This is a smartphone detector. That's called perception is reality, and that's called branding. The business we're in.

The next question I have is this. Will the teachers be required to enforce the no smartphone policy on school grounds? And if the teachers are required to enforce the no smartphone policy on school grounds? And if the teachers are required to enforce the no smartphone policy on school grounds, does this make the teacher have to do more with less? Does this put the teacher in a terrible position?

How many of you get anxiety when your smartphone is not within reach of you? Oh my God, where's my phone? What the hell's happening with my phone? Where did I leave my phone? Did I leave it in the counter of Foods of All Nations? Did I leave it in my locker? Did I leave it in my car?

Is it at home next to the coffee pot? Is my kid? Where's my cell phone? And that's adults who have anxiety. Put yourself in the shoes of a 16, 17, or 18-year-old where the smartphone is how 16, 17, 18-year-olds communicate. And then put yourself in the shoes of a 16, 17, or 18-year-old where the smartphone is how 16, 17, 18-year-olds communicate. And then put yourself in the shoes of a teacher who's working a long day already, underpaid, overworked, underappreciated, and now has to tell a 16, 17, and 18-year-old, put your damn phone away or I'm going to take it from you.

Is that not going to draw the ire of teens when it comes to their educators? And then the last question I have for you is this. Is this window dressing from Glenn Youngkin pomp and circumstance to try to reinforce or strengthen his brand among voters in the commonwealth or beyond? because if he's strictly making a policy like this or pushing a policy like this from the governor's mansion without thinking about what it does to school boards and diminishing or cannibalizing their their authority and their autonomy their rights or if he's doing this without thinking about what it's going to do to teachers,

asking them to do more with less, to become cell phone policemen and cell phone gatekeepers, then all this guy is doing is passing, it's like in a business. When you've got a business and there's a CEO that's saying, let's do this, let's make this call.

And the CEO is saying, let's do this, let's make this call. And the CEO is saying, let's do this and let's make this call without truly understanding what the folks on the factory floor or the drivers of the fleet that delivers the product or the folks that work on the front lines of the business, what they truly expect or what they need or what they want. Oh, yeah. I love the policy. I love the idea. How this is going to be enforced is going to be a cluster duck, quack, quack, quack. And what this does to school board

rights, diminishing their authority and their autonomy, is a question that I have. Because from my standpoint, he just cannibalized school boards in the Commonwealth when it came to this decision. Any other topics? Tom Stargell, the Golden Apple Award winner, is watching the program. His photo on screen. He says there's no question that cell phone disuse is rampant in local schools. This new tiered system will no doubt be ignored by Dr. Matthew Haas and the Alamo County School Board,

as have many other executive orders. The school board and Haas' behavior is totally because of their hatred of Youngkin rather than the obvious merit of the order. He says, Tom Stargell, no doubt Haas' system will hang teachers out to dry, as he always has done. Neil Williamson watching the program,

president of the Free Enterprise Forum. He says, this will become part of the student's permanent record per the policy. Spencer Pushard watching the program. He's fantastic in the audio and visual space. If you need some audio and visual work done, Spencer Pushard's a program. He's fantastic in the audio and visual space. If you need some audio and visual work done, Spencer Pushard's a great guy to call. He says, while we're on the subject of banning things at school,

I think after school homework should be regulated and or stopped because I mean, we only get what, three hours a week per night with our children. The school gets seven hours a day to teach them the things they need to know. Half of my first graders' homework last year was sent home with little or no explanation,

and once completed, it took over an hour to complete. And that's another thing, Jerry, is that like most other Virginia policies, what works in Northern Virginia is not going to work for Southwest, South Central Virginia, class sizes of 30 students or more

versus a class size of 15 or under. A lot to unpack with Spencer's comments right there. The no homework topic is a topic for another day in a different show. I've heard that topic from others. In fact, I've heard Livable Charlottesville co-chair Matthew Gilligan also talk about banning homework with students. And his wife's a teacher. Topic for a different day. We're on the cell phone topic, smartphone being banned by Yunkin. Vanessa Parkhill says, teachers have always been the first line of enforcement with regard to school rules. The key is having administrators who support the teachers

with appropriate consequences for students who break the rules. Exactly. That's not happening now. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't implement the policy. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Okay. They're having a hard time to... Some of these schools are having a hard time basically running.

On Thanksgiving, this past Thanksgiving, there was a teacher sick out and the school had to close down for days. Yeah. If we don't think the teachers are going to be the enforcers of this smartphone ban, we're nuts.

And then the teacher unions are going to push back by saying this, you're making us do more for the same pay. And nothing is going to get the anger of students more than taking their cell phones i mean those sound like a lot of arguments for not implementing this i i think how you implement it is what i just said the smartphone detector when you're walking through school and you take

it away from from the teachers make the kids walk through a detector, a detector that can scan or check for weapons, guns, smartphones. We have the same damn thing when we go in an airport, don't we? They do have... The same thing when we go through an airport.

Take it away from the teachers who are already telling us they're overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Walk through a damn security system. If you're not going to do anything wrong, if you're not going to break the rules, why do you care to walk through it?

We do it for planes. We do it for travel. We do it to enter the country. Do it for travel we do it to enter the country do it for schools Megan Hart says teachers aren't even going to follow this order and she says preach it Jerry John Blair watching this program

Jerry it's worth noting that the Virginia House of Delegates voted down a bill this year that would have banned social media addictive practices. Here's a link to the bill. John Blair also says Governor Glenn Youngkin's executive order is trying to do as much as he can to stop social media addiction. But the House in 2024 blocked his attempts to stop social media products aimed at addicting teenagers to screens. It is a drug addiction. Logan Wells, Clay Lowe, welcome to the show. I see it with our six-year-old. I want to tell a 30-second story before I get off this topic and explain to the community that Alamaro County Public Schools are building

a $38 million new school within walking distance of another school that it's trying to assist. The house we moved to has a swimming pool. You've seen it. We've been into this house a short period of time. In that period of time of

being in this house with swimming pool, our oldest son and I have spent hours in this swimming pool. Every day of utilizing the pool. Since having this house and this pool, our son and I have gotten closer as a father-son dynamic. He's not on his cell phone. He's not on YouTube, his cell phone. My cell phone, my wife's cell phone. Our six-year-old does not have a cell phone. Correction.

He's not on YouTube. He's not on TikTok. He's not asking for the iPad. He's not on YouTube. He's not on TikTok. He's not asking for the iPad. He's not asking for Netflix. He's not asking to get on YouTube shorts. He's not asking to watch other kids play video games. He gets in the swimming pool with me. He's getting sun. He's more tan than ever. He's getting in and out of the pool, cannonballs in the pool, pencils in the pool, diving in the pool, practicing his breaststroke, practicing his freestyle, running around. He's exhausted when he goes to bed. I've noticed his physique in three weeks get bigger just from getting up and

in the pool, pulling himself out of the pool, getting in the pool, swimming. He is a six-year-old. He's getting stronger with his physique from this. And most importantly, he's not mesmerized and hypnotized by screen time. It's been a blessing. Anything else you want to dot or cross? Ginny Hu says this. Be careful what you wish for with no homework, Mr. Pushard. Ginny Hu says, the private school my eldest attended did that, and it wasn't until December parent-teacher meetings that parents realized several promised topics

were not even being taught, including multiplication. Deep Throat says this, going through security takes an annoying amount of time. My perspective is this, if the student population of a school is such that they can only be controlled with metal detectors, I do not want my kids in that school. That's to Judah's point. That's a pretty good point. But not everyone has the resources of Deep Throat.

But he still makes a good point you're talking about a single access point where every student is going to have to go through a single metal detector on the way and you're talking about potentially hundreds of students in line to go in one at a time how's it any different than the friday night football game i don't know i haven it any different than the Friday night football game? I don't know. I haven't been to a Friday night football game in decades. How's it any different than a Friday night football game? That's also... Thousands of people at a Monticello high school football game.

Thousands of people at a Charlottesville high school football game. Okay. Thousands of people at a Western Alamaro high school football game. Thousands of people at an Alamaro high school football game. Are you just saying the same thing over and over again? One access point, going through a line, going through metal detectors. Thousands of people at all the area football games. They are already doing this.

You stagger the entry time. You don't have everybody arrive at 7.59 a.m. Oh, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. I want all of you to arrive at the door exactly at 7.59 a.m. You freaking staggered the entry time. 7.30. 7.45. 8 o'clock.

8.15. Come on, guys. It's not rocket science here. Spencer asked a fair question. Who's going to run the metal detectors? That is a fair question who's going to run the metal detectors that is a fair question one person running or two people running the metal detectors is a lot easier than asking teachers to enforce

Youngkin's policy from the governor's mansion Bill McChesney create a model like an airplane. It disables the phone when they walk into the school. Create a mode like airplane mode called school mode. It disables the phone when they walk into the school. Not sure how you would do that. Even if you somehow limit the access to the internet with the phones, they could still use the service provided by their cell phone provider.

In fact, I would bet the majority of doing that anyway. Alright, it's 1 at 105. We have other topics we've got to get to on this show, so we have to get off at Olivia Branch. Welcome to the program. Love when you watch the show. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts.

This is a topic for your cocktail parties this weekend. I hope, I hope this is just not pop and circumstance policy. I hope this policy has more legs

and foundation that can be turned into law. I think that all depends on the Virginia Department of Education and, like you said, the school boards and how much they actually want to implement this. So we leave it as time will tell? There's no other way to leave it. There it is. Next topic. Next lower third on screen, if you could, please. This is from Charlottesville Tomorrow. Charlottesville Tomorrow, I've pushed back on some of your coverage, saying your coverage has been rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion,

and has not been rooted in hard news like the previous news cycle, the previous news model with Sean Tubbs and Brian Wheeler. That was hard news around government, around zoning, around business, around development. But Charlottesville tomorrow, I've got to give you props where props are due. Of late, the content you've been creating has been fodder for this talk show and has helped drive the news cycle in Charlottesville. The Carlton Avenue trailer park story they did with the $7 million potential acquisition, that was fantastic. I think

you missed a key element of the Carlton Avenue trailer park story, a key element that very intuitive Judah B. Wickauer pointed out to the viewers and listeners on this show, and that element was, is the new zoning ordinance, the more flexible zoning, making this trailer park a $7 million purchase reality, and is the new zoning ordinance, the more flexible zoning, making this trailer park a $7

million purchase reality? And is that new zoning ordinance going to basically crush 60 families who are living in their mobile homes in this park? And is this park then going to be converted into expensive, wealthy housing? And if that's the case, the new zoning ordinance effed those 60 families. Fantastic point made by Judah that should have been in the Charlottesville Tomorrow article. Today's article had Judah and I talking. Alamo County Public Schools are going to build a new elementary school for the first time in 20 years. Guess what, taxpayers? You're going to foot the bill for it. $38,422,864 the construction of this new school according to the VMDO architect firm. VMDO crushes it with school construction in this area.

They do a damn good job. I'm not throwing shade on VMDO. They do a damn good job on school construction in this area. $38,422,864. A couple of elements from this Charlottesville Tomorrow article that stood out to me, and then I'll get your take, Judah Wittkower. The Alamo County Public Schools are constructing their 16th elementary school and the first elementary school in the county in 20 years. The new elementary school is going to be open in the 2026-2027 school year. The new elementary school is within walking distance of Mountain View Elementary School off Galaxy Farm Lane. The school board, exhausted,

did a thorough property search and failed to locate suitable properties within the timeline that was necessary for the school, for the scheduled opening of the new school. And as a result, they went to this plot of land that Albemarle already owned. Mountain View will switch to pre-kindergarten through second grade, and the new elementary

school will house third, fourth, and fifth graders. So they're chopping Mountain View Elementary up, formerly Kale Elementary, into two schools. The new one that's going to be built for 38 plus million dollars, into the one that's currently there. And the reason they're doing that is because it's beyond capacity. 756 students in 2024, but has a capacity of 624. That means they're beyond capacity of 132 students.

That's 20% Judah, beyond capacity. Yeah. That's bananas. And this won't be ready until what, 2027? 26, 27 school year. Here's a startling statistic that jumped out to me in this article. By 2034, Albemarle County Public Schools expects to serve more than 14,500 students,

about 1,000 more students that are currently enrolled. The school division used projections from the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia, which predicts that Albemarle County's population will grow. Are you ready for this? I'm looking at it. Weldon Cooper predicts Albemarle County's population will grow by almost 40,000 people. Yeah.

By 2050, 40,000, ladies and gentlemen. Hamilton Lombard, the, I want to make sure I have his exact title. Hamilton Lombard is the Estimates Program Manager for the Demographics Research Group at the University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. His crystal balling on population increases. Also a good squash player, Hamilton Lombard. What jumps out at you from this article? I mean, it's obviously past time that this happened. I think keeping the second school close to the first is, it'll probably help with buses.

The buses will be, it's not like they'll be having to make, it's not like they'll need twice as many buses to go to two different schools. It may be feasible for the buses that they have or new buses to be included with those to drop off students at both of those schools fairly quickly. I was a little bit taken aback by the fact that they're splitting it by grade rather than just creating a new elementary school. But thinking about it, I think it makes sense. It's an easier way of splitting up all the students without parents saying, well, why does my student have to go to this school instead of

that school? You're not splitting up, you know, you're not splitting up friend groups. And most importantly, you're categorizing personnel by school. Your third, fourth, and fifth grade, is it, what was the top grade? You don't need twice the number of, or not twice the number, but you don't need fourth grade teachers for both schools. You don't need second grade teachers for both schools. Yeah. You just focus on first through what? First through third?

Kindergarten through second? Whatever it is. Kindergarten through second grade at Mountain View currently. Third, fourth, and fifth graders at the new school. Doing it that way categorizes personnel. at Mountain View currently, third, fourth, and fifth graders at the new school. Doing it that way categorizes personnel by school. Yeah. Your point about them being in close proximity with bus route efficiency is a legitimate point.

And this is one school that just has too many kids. It's not like they need a new school for some new district that's being attached to the county. It's just a matter of having too many kids in one school. Now you've got two schools for the same kids. I don't know why you would want to have the school far away somewhere else. What was the name of the elementary school that Albemarle County closed in the southern Albemarle feeder system? Viewers and listeners, help me with this.

Spencer, help me with this. There was an elementary school, was it in Esmont? No, it wasn't in Esmont. Esmont's in Keswick. It was in the Red Hill area. There was an elementary school closed there. Created a backlash of many parents for the closing of that school. Someone help me with that school, the name of that school. Yancey. Marie Marshall Barnes. Thank you. Yancey Elementary.

That was the school. I dated a girl that was a kindergarten teacher in that school back in the day. Yancey Elementary. Knowing what we know now was the closing of Yancey Elementary School the right move? Are you saying they should have kept it open until it was needed again? $38 million seems a boatload of money for taxpayers. Do we know whether any of that's going to be

going to be paid for by subsidies? Maria Marshall Barnes says Scottsville and Red Hill took kids from Yancey Elementary. Maria Marshall Barnes, you're making the program better. Do we think twice now with Weldon Cooper saying the population by 2050 is going to expand by 40,000 people in Albemarle County?

Do we think twice now or have regrets about closing any of the schools that we've closed in the recent past? I mean, I'd have to take that case by case. Taking a school and repurposing it seems much more affordable than building a new school from scratch and allowing a school to get to 20% beyond capacity crowded levels. Yeah. The fact that it's with Yancey and Esmont.

I am, Bill McChesney, thank you. I am thinking of Sismont near Keswick. Good correction, Bill McChesney and Dan Blank. Thank you for holding me accountable with Yancey and Esmond. I am thinking about Sismont and Keswick. Bill McChesney, you're 100% right. Does anyone think that Yancey Elementary, knowing what we know now, should have been closed?

I mean, that was seven years ago, right? Great question for you, Dan Blake. Great question for you, Maria Marshall-Barnes. Spencer Pushard. Knowing what we know now, should Yancey have been closed? Genuinely want to hear that answer from the viewers and listeners that are more up to speed on that topic than me. Closing schools at a time when the population is booming seems to be backwards thinking.

Great article by Charlottesville tomorrow. I encourage you guys to check and read that one out. Next topic on the talk show, Judah Wittkower. Can you give us the headline? Yes. Seville Firm buys assisted living complex. All right, put that lower third on screen. I'm going to spend two minutes on this topic.

Actually, I'll spend 90 seconds on this. Siri, set the timer for 90 seconds. One minute and 30 seconds. Counting down. Commonwealth Senior Living, a Charlottesville-based company, acquired a complex formerly known as Seton Chesterfield in the Richmond area. It paid just over $3 million for the property on the 10th of June,

according to Chesterfield County Public Records. Commonwealth Senior Living now counts three Richmond area senior living properties in its portfolio. Commonwealth Senior Living now counts three Richmond area senior living properties in its portfolio. Commonwealth Senior Living, a Charlottesville-based firm, has a total of 40 locations across Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Michigan. More than 30 of those locations are within the Commonwealth of Virginia. And its two other Richmond area locations are Commonwealth Senior Living at Chesterfield and Commonwealth Senior Living in the West End. Commonwealth Senior Living is an incredible success story from Charlottesville. Incredible success story. Commonwealth Senior Living's business model is based on purchasing existing senior facilities,

renovating the buildings with minimal impact to residents. It's going to renovate the location it just purchased in the Richmond area. Some of the renovations they do, light fixtures, floorings, vanities, new carpets, furniture for the dining rooms, upgrades to the therapy gym and activity spaces. Props to Commonwealth Senior Living, and that right there is 90 seconds of news that you have yet to hear from any other media outlet. Next topic, Judah Wickauer, if you could put the lower third on screen. What's the topic, my friend? Potential of

downtown's hardware store building. Oh my friend. Potential of downtown's hardware store building. Oh, my gosh. Where should I begin with this? Should I set the stage? Who remembers the hardware store restaurant on the downtown mall? I do. I remember being able to go into the hardware store restaurant and get yardsticks of cold beer. A yardstick vat or glass that was filled with cold beer that we would drink with long straws.

I remember going into the hardware store restaurant, and upon entering the restaurant, there were knickknacks and vendors in the front selling jewelry, knickknacks, and other small things. A restaurant met like kind of like an Etsy shop. Then the hardware store closed down. The owner of the hardware store restaurant, a husband and wife team, they have a house that's for sale in north downtown at the end of a cul-de-sac, Altamont Circle. Needs a lot of work. A million dollar plus asking price. But someone's going to buy that house

and they're going to reimagine it and they're going to have a walking distance, beautiful abode that's a hop, skip, and a jump from the downtown mall. Now, today's hardware store building is potentially a retail storefront like when Urban Outfitters was there. Today's hardware store building has office space on the second, third, and fourth floors.

Today's hardware store building, 316 East Main Street, has an asking price of $6,500,000. It's 20% leased. Urban Outfitters, no longer there. Silver Chair, no longer there. $6.5 million is not the reality for this building. The asking price is not close to today's reality. The potential, however, is significant. What would you do at the hardware store building? Got to be something omni-experiential in downtown Charlottesville.

Maybe you do different floors of omni-experiential. Laser tag, putt-putt. Is the building that big? It's pretty damn tall. Yeah, you don't need height for putt-putt. Do you put restaurants there? I think we're at saturation. Okay. I love what they've done with the Decades Arcade space.

Decades Arcade expanding. Yeah. Not only expanding its footprint, it's expanding its hours. Days open as well. What could you do there? And please don't say $37 crab cake sandwiches and $17 cocktails. I wouldn't say crab cake cocktails or whatever.

What would you do there? I mean, it depends on if you own it, you try to rent it out, right? It's I don't know that the owner has much of a choice in owner always has a choice. They have a choice whether or not to rent it to someone. They don't have a choice in who comes calling to use the space. Yes, they do. How so? The owner can choose to rent it to whoever they want.

Based on the viability or success of the model that's presented to them. That's what I just said. Yeah, But they can choose not to rent to somebody. The landlord has the final say. That's exactly what I just said. If you're the landlord, what kind of tenant would you attract? What kind of tenant would you want there? I don't know you'd have a choice in who to attract, but if I had... You always have a choice of who to attract. How? You go out and solicit your tenant roster.

Okay. If you've got Johnny Pritzloff and Jenny Stoner of Tallheimer managing your building and you're the owner of this space, you mentioned to Pritzloff and Stoner, what kind of tenant do you want for the space? And they go and find them for you. Pritzloff tells Chris Henry, check out this food hall in Atlanta. Takes him to Atlanta to look at the food hall, and Dairy Market turns into a food hall. That's how development happens. If I was the potential owner of this building,

I wouldn't pay $6.5 million, that's for sure. But if I did purchase the building, I'd consider something like maybe what John Dewberry was considering doing, a boutique hotel. People are going to say we're over hotel. I don't think we're over hotel, and I don't think the data would say we're over hotel. I don't think we're over hotel, and I don't think the data would say we're over hotel.

If I was looking at that building, I'd figure out something that's omni-experiential. Bowling. Laser tag. Putt-putt. Some of these adult games Pickleball Activities that can be done

That compliment the bar And restaurant And music scene on the downtown mall I wouldn't turn it into office space I would not turn it into A cocktail bar and a restaurant I would not turn it into a cocktail bar in a restaurant. I would not turn it into retail. You're looking at a building with significant upside right there.

Depends on the price point you acquire. And that's a perfect segue into the next topic. Well, the next topic, I want to get this out to the community. The Lake Monticello Food Lion Building at 264 Turkey Sag Trail is for sale. 33,800 square feet. This is massive. 100% leased. One of the top producing food lines in the Commonwealth of Virginia, this one. It was built in 1997. It's on nearly six acres of land. A lot of people don't realize that Food Lion is for sale. Perfect segue into the next lower third. Underachieving real estate with the most upside.

Is that hardware store building on that list of underachieving real estate with the most upside in Charlottesville, Alamo, and Central Virginia? Is the Dewberry Hotel on that short list as underachieving real estate with the most upside in Charlottesville, Alamo, and Central Virginia? What else would be on that short list for you, Judah Wachauer? Underachieving real estate. With the most upside? I mean, I believe they're doing something over with the old Kmart building, but that's been obviously an underachieving piece of real estate for quite a while now. That's a great suggestion. Gold Gym, Kmart.

Corin's involved with that project. Alan Taylor. How about the Todsbury building on Ivy Road? Which one is that? The old pizza place. Not very helpful. On Ivy Road. The old pizza place. Not very helpful. On Ivy Road. Only one pizza place.

You haven't been down those parts, have you? I don't know. You mean German and Crozet? Not via Ivy. Okay. I'll put that on the short list as one of the most underachieving pieces of real estate with the most upside. Now, you have an ecological disaster potential waiting to happen there. It's close to a stream. The buildings that tear down. The late Phil Delaney estate. The owners.

You've got an ecological disaster waiting to happen there just like his property across from the boar's head where Danny's upholstery is that's for sale right now front of the program Andrew Hardy has that listing you do any kind of development

on those two sites you're going to have the EPA up here you know what and I can assure you why those two pieces of property have not moved you're going to have the EPA up here, you know what. And I can assure you why those two pieces of property have not moved faster or at all. There's a handful of pieces of property right there underachieving currently with the most upside. Hardware store building,

John Dewberry's skeleton that at this point, is it not a teardown? I mean, we might as well make it a national Charlottesville monument. For what? Who would be on that monument? Who's going to, what are we going to do with it? I think at this point, you've got to tear it down. There's no way that steel is legit still. Tell me who's going to tear it down. Whoever buys it. Tell me who's going to buy it. No one's going to buy it. Is he even selling it? He's paying his taxes on it. I think his tax base on that is like $65,000 a year, what Rory Stolzenberg told us. And he's clearly willing to pay that despite Charlottesville. Seems to be.

There's, what, five pieces of property right there for you? Judith said Gold's Gym and Kmart, underachieving with most upside. Johnny Dewberry's Skeleton. Hardware store. Todd's Berry Pizza on Ivy Road. And the Danny's

Upholstery slip across from the Borset. Two of them EPA nightmares. One of them, Judah's suggestion, currently being developed. Hardware store priced ridiculously. And Dewberry content just paying 65 grand in taxes. You should read what Bill McChesney just wrote.

What did he write? You read it out to everybody. If you make it a monument, it will be torn down. I like that. That's funny. Bill McChesney, how about a brothel? Marguerite's 2.0. Do you know the story of Marguerite?

No, I do not. Marguerite used to be the madam of Charlottesville. Was this down on water? where Friendship Court is? Okay. Kind of where Belmont and downtown meet. Yeah. She was a madam and ran a known,

reputable, and infamous brothel where the power players of Charlottesville and Albemarle would frequent. And she had immunity because with her brothel where the power players of Charlottesville and Albemarle would frequent. And she had immunity because with her brothel, so many power players were patronizing it that they gave her the green light and folks looked the other way. John Blair says, Jerry, here's an answer question for you. Given all the Albemol County money that went into the Southwood redevelopment,

did the county not get any land for school purposes? It would have made more sense to have a new kindergarten to fifth grade elementary school at that development than to build this new school. I always thought that a new school down fifth street extended would compliment the school down Avon Extended Mountain View. I used to live down Fifth Street Extended in Redfields. And when I lived in Redfields down Fifth Street Extended, I was amazed with how many families lived down Fifth Street Extended.

Mosby Mountain, Redfields, Mountain Valley. And that's not even counting all the... New development at Southwood. That's not even counting all the New development at Southwood That's not even counting all the condos Villas at Southern Ridge Yeah So many families in that area And those families have to navigate

Across 5th Street Extended Cutting either through Wegmans Around Wegmans or going down 5th Street Cherry and up Avon to Mountain View. John makes a great point. A new school where the Southwood development, in conjunction with Piedmont Housing Alliance development, would have taken the pressure off of Mountain Valley, off of Cale.

What's it called now? All this rebranding is so effing confusing. What's it called now? All this rebranding is so effing confusing. What's it called now? Mountain View. All right. You get the news out about Trump, and then we'll get out of here. Today's show is good.

Today's show is full of information. Get the news out about Eric Trump expanding the Trump brand. He has been, from what I remember reading, he's been excited about getting into cider for some time now and is finally going ahead with that. I believe they've bought some land across the street from the winery. They are currently planting apple trees. They won't have those up and producing fruit for I don't know how many years. So in the interim, they are using another fairly local apple, I guess it's a cider press. I believe they grow the trees, they pick the apples,

and they press the apples, which are then sent on to various places for use in things like this, cideries and he is creating a separate business. It's going to have its own tasting room and I believe it's already open and producing cider and is drawing a lot of people who don't have a problem with the Trump name or like the Trump name, which is good for our area.

A lot of people don't want to admit this. In the Charlottesville, Albemarle area, that is obviously extremely left-leaning, the Trump wine is some of the most highly awarded and accoladed wine that's out there. Awards given to Trump wine by contemporary and peers. And I'll tell you what. From where it was Kluge to where it is now Trump, complete about face.

Patricia Kluge was running her vineyard and winery into the ground. And now it is a tourist attraction and turning into a cider business and apple growing business. I wonder if that was a case of the area itself becoming more friendly to, becoming more known as a destination spot for wineries. No. No? It was already known then when Kluge was running it into the ground. Fair enough. Its profile is enhanced, but it was already known then. Maria Marshall Barnes says, in response to the Yancey Elementary's question, should Yancey Elementary have been closed in Esmont? She says it was mentioned over 15 years ago to build one elementary school on this side near Walton,

and parents objected. It supposedly cost too much money to run all three. That was the reason behind closing Yancey Elementary. Maria Marshall Barnes, you made the show better today. Seriously, seriously, sincerely mean that. Any closing thoughts, Judah B. Wickauer? I'm glad the temperature's coming down a little bit, but it is still majorly humid. I was outside with my parents, sister, and niece yesterday evening after the sun had gone down

to set off some... They weren't real fireworks. Oh! They weren't real fireworks. Smokey the Bear says you light fireworks after in drunk conditions and you burn your mom and dad's house down I wasn't the one setting them off

but is this Big Jim Wickhower man it was I wasn't doing anything physical and I was just dripping sweat so Ginny Hu says Bill McChesney's comment about Marguerite's was just dripping sweat.

Ginny Hu says Bill McChesney's comment about marguerites and the what did he say about the monument? It was hilarious. She also says population increase doesn't automatically mean public school enrollment increase. In fact, with housing costs constantly rising as well as dissatisfaction with the public school system, more may be choosing other options. Yeah.

All right, that's the Wednesday edition of the I Love Seville show. I thought today's show was pretty good. I thought Judah Wickow was on point. You, the viewer and listener, make this program more dynamic we just want to be the water cooler for conversation

we want you the viewer and listener to be in the spotlight of the talk show we're back on air tomorrow at 10.15am with Alex Erpe and Xavier Erpe and Michael Erpe and Nicholas Erpe and their show Today y Mañana and the I Love Seville show at 1230. Thank you kindly for joining us for Judah Wickhour. My name is Jerry Miller.

So long, everybody. Thank you.